Paul Child

"There would be no French Chef without him."

Julia Child always credited her husband, Paul, with inspiring her interest in food and wine and supporting her career. She said he was “the man who is always there: porter, dishwasher, official photographer, mushroom dicer and onion chopper, editor, fish illustrator, manager, taster, idea man, resident poet, and husband.”

Julia and Paul met in 1944 when they were both serving in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the Second World War. They married in 1946 and settled briefly in Washington, D.C., before moving in 1948 to Paris.

Having lived abroad for Paul’s work, the couple settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1961, after he retired. At this point Julia’s career was just taking off and Paul devoted much of his time to her many culinary and educational endeavors. Paul Child died in 1994.